‘Catch and eat’ of smaller bass gaining acceptance among anglers 
Whether it’s the economy, developing better fisheries management or just a craving for a tasty dinner, a growing number of bass anglers are steering away from catch and release to try a little catch and eat.
While catch and release is meant to leave more big bass in Texas lakes, catch and eat recommends keeping smaller fish for table fare. But, by doing that, smaller fish are “culled” from the fisheries, which frees up food that could help lunkers to thrive.
Think of it like a rancher who culls his smaller “management” bucks to leave habitat for his trophy deer.
The catch-and-eat concept has gained the endorsement of Alton Jones, a Bassmaster elite pro angler from Waco. He recently appeared in a catch-and-eat promotion video from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
In it, Jones says that keeping smaller bass is appropriate for lakes that have slot limits. For example, a lake has a 14-to-21 inch limit means you must release largemouth bass between 14 and 21 inches. (See the TPWD’s to review slot limits on various lakes.)
Catch and release is “true in most cases,” Jones said.
But, he added, “Harvesting bass from slot limit lakes will not harm the resource. It might actually improve fishing quality. If you fish a lake with a slot limit, take some small bass home to eat.”
Foard Houston agreed. He is an Orvis endorsed fly fishing guide who operates the Sandy Oaks Ranch in Devine.
“Keeping a few fish is just a good way to increase the quality of a fishery,’’ he said. “Just last week I had a group of about 10 guys fishing several area lakes for a couple of days and we probably kept about 20 or 30 fish out of all the bass we caught.
“The culling process is just a good management technique.”
Houston said he relies on the various landowners of the South Texas lakes and tanks he visits to determine how many fish can be kept by his anglers, but uses an average rule of thumb of about 20 pounds per acre per year.
“People just seem to understand management better these days than in the past when catch and release was so popular,’’ he said. “If you don’t harvest any fish, you can be sure that the size of your trophy fish will start shrinking.’’
Guide Manny Martinez of L&M Guide Service of San Antonio has been offering his clients catch-and-eat opportunities for more than three decades at Calaveras and Braunig Lakes where stocked redfish and native channel and blue catfish thrive on a bait-rich environment.
“When the redfish are really turned on, especially in the spring and summer, you can catch a limit of three reds per person pretty quickly,” he said. “I like to put a few fish in the boat because most of my people want to take home a few fillets, then we just keep catching and releasing them until their arms wear out.’’
Kyle Kenter, who pulls double duty as a fly fishing guide on the Guadalupe, San Marcos and Colorado rivers during the fall, winter and spring and works the saltwater flats in the summer months, said he has observed a change in harvest versus non-harvest attitude with some of his anglers.
“A few more are asking to keep some of their fish, but there are still a lot of purists who are not going after meat,’’ Kenter said. “I know it is more noticeable in the spring that if the trout anglers keep their fish over 18 inches (the minimum length for a keeper trout along a stretch of the Guadalupe River stocked by TP&W) it impacts the number of trophy trout we see by late spring.
Kenter said rivers are different from other water bodies because of the limited amount of fish in certain areas.
Keeping a few Guadalupe, largemouth or smallmouth bass found in the deep pockets of the rivers is an acceptable practice as long as anglers use a little restraint, Kenter said.
“You can catch all the fish out of some areas if you keep everything,” he said. “I recommend keeping just a few and releasing the rest.’’
Kenter offers similar advice to his saltwater anglers.
“Down in the Lower Laguna Madre, the limit is three reds and five trout,” he said. “I normally try to get my anglers keep one red and a couple of trout, releasing the rest.
“That way everyone wins.’’
